Instant Messaging on OS X? Ditch iChat and update to Adium version 1.3!
17 06 2008This article is a brief look into the latest version of the messaging program Adium.
If you aren’t already familiar with Adium, and you are running OS X- please download it now. Adium is basically the VLC of Instant Messaging applications- the swiss army knife that does it all, and with style. Completely Cocca based, licensed under a GNU General Public License, Adium is free and even highly customizable.
The Adium team, headed by Evan Schoenberg (Lead Developer) and Eric Richie (Project Manager) has been rapidly developing the latest version of Adium- version 1.3. Still in beta form, Adium 1.3 features a number of improvements over the current 1.2.5 build. Some of the best are highlighted below:
Complete redesign of the Contact Inspector (formerly the Get Info Window)
The contact inspector and integration with Address Book has been greatly improved in Adium 1.3.
Added Facebook Chat service to Adium
The new Facebook Chat protocol is now supported in Adium version 1.3.
Added a search field to the Standard Contact List window
Alike the new Contact search in the upcoming iPhone 2.0 firmware, Adium now supports searching your contacts, both online and off. Simply click in the Buddy List window and start typing- your results will be instantly filtered.
Major performance improvements, most notable when signing on multiple accounts simultaneously and when chatting while other applications are making heavy use of your hard drive.
Adium 1.3 has indeed been improved and most notably on older machines where system resources are tight.
If you would like to update to Adium 1.3 now, download Adium 1.2.5; and in Adium>Preferences>General check “Update to Beta Versions when Available”. This will allow you to run the latest betas of Adium, and the final release when it comes out.
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Honestly, I use and love Adium…but don’t ditch iChat if you video chat frequently. There’s nothing more annoying than running one client to rule them all…..and having to exit it and open up other clients to use my cam…I’d be willing to pay for Adium once it has A/V support.
@Jon Tell me about it. I do the same thing. They say Adium 2.0 will finally bring us video conferencing!! Lets cross our fingers that it comes sooner than later.
I love adium! I think i need the latest version so that it will start working for me again on my computer again.
i used adium since I bought my mac , however I recently tried ichat because I Wanted to video conference with a friend and in doing so discovered the audio calling, great file sharing ability with ichat theater, video recording, SMS messaging, and the integration with other mac apps. Since then I have been using ichat. The only way I would use adium again is if I used an instant messenger network that was not supported by ichat, otherwise I think ill stay with ichat